Bangkok--Jun 21--Galaxy Distribution Galaxy Travel Distribution System Ltd., specialising in on-line global travel distribution systems for ground services, today announced the appointment of five new vice presidents in the areas of sales, operations, systems design and software development. Mr. Marco Gorin has been appointed Senior Vice President. Sales and Marketing for Galaxy Distribution System Ltd. Gorin is responsible for directing the company's global sales programmes through a network of offices and staff located in Sydney, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Toronto and Buenos Aires. Through Galaxy's regional offices, Gorin leads the sales activities of some 30 National Marketing Companies (NMC) representing Galaxy in over 60 territories world-wide. Gorin's aggressive approach to Galaxy's market expansion is making rapid inroads in Latin America, Eastern Europe and the Confederation of Independent States (C.I.S.) through the continued establishment of solid partnerships and strategic alliances. Gorin joined Galaxy in 2002. Mr. Iwan Spillebeen has been appointed Senior Vice President, Operations and Special Projects for Galaxy Distribution System Ltd. Spillebeen is responsible for directing Galaxy's worldwide training programmes; Galaxy's global Help Desk and for coordinating operational issues among Galaxy National Marketing Companies and regional sales offices. Apart from continuing with the spearheading of Galaxy's corporate web design, Spillebeen's expanded role also focuses on the coordination of the development of special projects to serve and support increased market demands and niche opportunities. Spillebeen joined Galaxy in 1999. Mr. Kirby Nuguid has been appointed Vice President, System Design and Architecture for Galaxy Distribution System Ltd. Nuguid is responsible for the continued evolution and design of the system architecture, which is pivotal to Galaxy's global activities. Nuguid works closely with the Galaxy management team to develop new software strategies aimed at supporting the continuous evolution and needs of Galaxy's global users. Nuguid joined Galaxy in 1993. Mr. Lau Hong Heng has been appointed Vice President, Software Development for Galaxy Distribution System Ltd. Lau is responsible for overall management of the company's software department in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. With over 10 years IT experience, Lau's strengths lie in IT strategic planning, technology development and implementation, problem solving, and team building. Lau is well-versed in interfacing with business alliance partners, customers and end-users. Lau joined Galaxy in August 2003. And Mr. Kenneth Mok, who has been appointed Vice President, Finance. Mok oversees the entire operation of the accounting and finance department. In addition, Galaxy BSP is operated under his supervision, ensuring timely and accurate settlement for all the transactions processed through Galaxy TDS. With his knowledge and experience in financial management, Mok assists Galaxy management in making sound strategic and financial decisions maximising the long-term financial benefits for the company. According to Mr. Paul J. Casey, Galaxy's President and CEO, the appointments are related to growth in scope of general responsibilities and geographic breadth of Galaxy presence. "Galaxy is now poised for the next level of significant expansion," said Casey, "and these appointments are a recognition of that." All executives continue to report directly to Casey. Note to Editors: Galaxy Distribution System Ltd. (www.galaxy-system.com) is an on-line global travel distribution system for ground services, which enables travel agents worldwide to immediately access, book, confirm and settle payments on-line and at the best possible prices. Galaxy provides travel agents with a direct link to a global supply of wholesale-priced and specially priced travel products from a variety of direct suppliers. Settlement is via Galaxy Billing and Settlement Plan (Galaxy BSP). At present, Galaxy's software solutions address primarily the leisure travel market, which is the fastest growing segment of the travel industry. Additionally, however, rapid inroads are being made by Galaxy to support the growing needs of corporate travel, where increased emphasis is placed on cost management. Worldwide expenditures for all categories of travel have been estimated by the World Travel and Tourism Council at $1.5trillion, with 2004 expected to register a 6% increase, followed by an average annual increase of 4.5% over the next 10 years. Galaxy's unique GroundServices is a multi-language system that automates the sales, procurement, delivery and invoicing functions, currently handled predominantly manually, around-the-clock in a user-friendly, vendor-neutral, secure and confidential environment. Rolled out during the first half of 2002 and currently being marketed to Receptive Inbound Operators (RIOs) globally by Galaxy's NMC partners, GroundServices is a virtual private network ("VPN") made available by Galaxy to users on a rental basis in return for a minimal percentage fee for each transaction put through the system. Galaxy's Travel Distribution System (Galaxy TDS) is specifically designed to give retail travel agents easy, direct booking access to competitively priced hotel rooms and other ground services. Galaxy's TDS filters best rates and availability from among numerous ground services suppliers in each destination, giving travel agents access to the most competitive rates in the market. Rates come direct from the principal source of wholesale-priced ground services, the Receptive Inbound Operators (RIOs), and from a wide range of suppliers who provide their inventories directly to Galaxy without the need for third party content aggregators. These industry suppliers have deep-discounted arrangements with hotels and other ground services providers, but generally do not trade directly with travel agents for credit reasons. Incorporated in Hong Kong in 1993 the company has its marketing and training operations in Bangkok, Thailand, - where it is registered under BOI status received from the Thai Board of Investment - with its product development centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where it also has MSC Status within the Malaysian Multimedia Super Corridor. Issued by Galaxy Travel Distribution System Ltd. For more information, please contact Galaxy's website at www.galaxy-system.com or contact: Mr G.E. "Coke" Mead Director - Public Relations Incentive Dynamics (S) Pte. Ltd. PR Counsel to Galaxy Distribution System Ltd. Tel/Fax: 02 - 691 - 7193 Mobile: 01 - 850 - 7979 Email: [email protected] End.-NT-